The encounter between Gu Houyi and Xu Chunliang was purely coincidental. When passing by Lu Ji's Oil-Boiled Duck, Gu Houyi joined the queue of people, and Xu Chunliang happened to be there too, and as he was leaving, he saw Gu Houyi standing at the end of the line.

Xu Chunliang came to buy braised dishes because he was too lazy to cook. His grandfather had gone to Hai Zhou, the clinic was temporarily closed, and Mrs. Lin was given a holiday. Xu Chunliang planned to buy some dishes to enjoy by himself. He really hadn't expected to encounter Dean Gu Houyi in such a setting.

Before he could say anything, Gu Houyi had already greeted him: "Xiaoxu, you're buying food too?"

Xu Chunliang nodded and said, "Dean Gu, are you buying food too?"

"Haven't had their duck in a long time."

The shop owner shouted that the oil-boiled duck was sold out. The business at this store had always been good. Gu Houyi shook his head; usually he liked their oil-boiled duck, but with it sold out, he naturally lost interest in queuing.

Xu Chunliang noticed Gu Houyi's disappointment and directly handed over half of his duck: "Dean Gu, take it home and eat it."

"If you give it to me, what will you eat?"

"It's nothing, today my grandpa is not at home, I'm alone, I'll just find a place to eat something casual."

"You're alone? Come to my place then."

Xu Chunliang said, "No need to trouble you."

"What's the trouble? I'm also alone today; you bring the food, I'll bring the drinks, and keep me company for a couple of drinks."

On a normal day, Gu Houyi probably wouldn't feel like drinking with a junior who just joined the hospital, but today was different, not only because Xu Chunliang had cured him, but also because he really wanted someone to have a couple of drinks and chat with.

Gu Houyi lived just across the street at Riverfront Scenic Garden. With the dean's sincere invitation, Xu Chunliang felt it was hard to refuse. He thought Gu Houyi wanted to thank him for his help today through this gathering.

Following Gu Houyi home, Xu Chunliang found the environment at Gu Houyi's place to be simpler than he had imagined.

A three-bedroom, two-living room apartment that was decorated over a decade ago, but the home was clean and tidy. Gu Houyi's wife, Xie Mei, was a professor in the Chinese Department at Dongzhou Normal University, and she was away attending a conference in the provincial city.

Gu Houyi had one son and one daughter, both working in the provincial city. Many people his age had a similar family situation.

Gu Houyi asked Xu Chunliang to sit first, and went to open two packs of Xing Desheng peanuts. His wife had always taken good care of him in life, so he couldn't cook at all.

Xu Chunliang had bought half a duck, along with duck wings and duck head, sufficient as snacks to go with drinks. He felt it was impolite to watch the dean busy, so he took the initiative to help arrange the plates.

Seeing that Xu Chunliang was quick and efficient, Gu Houyi turned to brew a pot of Dragon Well tea and opened a bottle of gift Maotai.

"Xiaoxu, you're in for a treat. Try this wine my son gave me." Gu Houyi spoke with a dual implication: one, to show his respect for his guest, and two, to make it clear that this bottle was a filial gift from his son, containing no elements of corruption, as recent incidents had made him increasingly cautious.

"Great wine." Xu Chunliang received it and first filled Gu Houyi's glass.

Gu Houyi raised his glass, remembering something: "Xiaoxu, is it okay for me to drink today in my condition?"

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "Don't worry, there's absolutely no problem."

Gu Houyi wondered to himself why he didn't trust the group of chiefs under him, yet he trusted a young man without a medical license. He clinked glasses with Xu Chunliang and said, "Thank you for today."

"Dean Gu, didn't we agree not to mention it? As a leader, you shouldn't go back on your word."

Gu Houyi laughed heartily, "Alright, I won't mention it, I'll leave it in the drink." He tilted his head and drank it down in one gulp.

Xu Chunliang also finished his glass in one go. The taste was smooth and mellow, the sauce aroma rich. Since he came into this world, he had shared quite a few drinks with his grandfather, but the best he had was Flying Maotai; the gift Maotai was evidently a notch higher.

"Xiaoxu, how many years have you been studying Chinese medicine?"

Confronted with this question, he certainly couldn't answer truthfully. Xu Chunliang said, "I followed my grandfather from a young age, recognizing herbal medicine by the age of three, mastering human meridians and acupoints by five. Because of this close exposure, I developed a great interest in Chinese medicine. It captivated me so much that I invested more than half of my energy into it, to the neglect of my studies."

Gu Houyi knew he was only a high school graduate. At that time, he advocated for Xu Chunliang to enter Changxing Hospital and fought for his position, not for his talent but for the piece of land Huichun Hall occupied.

Xu Chunliang was one of the few compromises in Gu Houyi's career in management. Because of today's events, he began to reflect on the current medical system. In the current system, academic qualifications are an important criterion for evaluating one's level, and it is only after looking at qualifications that one considers their medical skills.

Once upon a time, strict academic requirements excluded many excellent undergraduates. Any industry values talent; being good at learning and exams doesn't mean one will become a leader in the industry, which is why there's the saying about 'high scores but low ability.'

As a dean, Gu Houyi was all too aware of the highly educated talent the hospital had recruited in recent years. There was a Ph.D. in surgery who couldn't even perform the simplest hernia operation. Times have changed. In the '90s, there were several experienced surgeons who could operate head to toe. The hospital conditions were not good then, and the average education level of doctors was insufficient.

Many low-educated surgeons were jokingly called knife craftsmen. Theoretically, they couldn't compare with these Ph.D. students today, but in terms of surgical skills, the younger generation couldn't catch up.

This was true for surgery, even more so for internal medicine. In the past, an internal medicine doctor could diagnose 90% of internal medical cases with just a stethoscope and a tongue depressor. But now, which of the internal medicine doctors on duty doesn't first write up a thick stack of tests?

Gu Houyi doesn't oppose them doing this. Hospitals have been pushed to the market. Strengthening drug supervision and entering collective procurement mean that test fees are a hospital's main profit source, and advanced medical examination equipment indeed helps doctors diagnose more accurately. But everything has two sides. As diagnostic equipment becomes more advanced, it somewhat weakens doctors' initiative, making almost all doctors increasingly reliant on auxiliary examinations.

Gu Houyi often wondered if all the experts in Changxing today were put in the environment of the '90s, not many would be left who could see patients. If they were back in ancient times, perhaps only the doctors in the Chinese medicine department could practice, even though the diagnostic level of Zhu Mingyuan, the head of Chinese medicine, was also questionable, something he had personally tested.

Xu Chunliang toasted to Gu Houyi again, and only then did Gu Houyi snap back to reality. He drank a glass of wine and said, "Xiaoxu, your level in traditional Chinese medicine is enough to stand on your own."

"Dean Gu, you flatter me. I do have some self-awareness. I was lucky to learn a bit about acupuncture and massage from my grandfather, but I'm far from proficient in medication."

Gu Houyi looked at him with appreciation. This young man was not bad, neither arrogant nor humble, and despite mastering acupuncture, he remained low-key and humble. Unfortunately, he didn't have a medical license. Otherwise, he could arrange for him to join the Chinese medicine department.

"Have you ever thought about returning to clinical practice in the future?"

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